Today I spotted a t-shirt in my closet that I had not seen for awhile.

I bought the t-shirt during my first trip to Israel back in 2012. That started me thinking about why I bought it.

During the trip we visited the fortress of Masada. I am not sure if I would call it Mount Masada, but that was what the shirt said. I would have rather it said Fortress Masada.

To reach the top of Masada, you have several choices. Most of our tour members opted to ride the cable cars up to the top. I joined a smaller group that wanted to follow the Snake Path to the top. You can see the Snake Path in the picture above. The path goes up the side of Masada with a vertical rise of about 400 meters.

Here you see my one way cable car ticket that I would use to come back from the top. It has remained in my name tag holder from the trip and hangs on my bedroom mirror, so I see it often and have some interesting memories.

We all headed out to the Snake Path while the other members headed up on the cable cars.

The long path first started with a flat portion out to the base of Masada. It was hot, but I was not tired out yet.

Then the path started working up the side of Masada through some long switchbacks. It was a very hot morning and it was uphill all the way. I had water with me, but should have carried more with me than I had.

I was definitely moving very slowly in the last several hundred feet up the side.

The view from the top was very rewarding though. We had a great view down on the trail and also the remains of Roman Army camps from when they had Masada under siege back in the first century.

I have been back to Masada a couple times, but since that first time I have always taken the cable car to the top.

Steven

WwRI